IPOH (Feb 28): The progress status of Section 11 of the West Coast Expressway (WCE) at the South Taiping Interchange, which is connected to the North South Expressway (PLUS) at the Changkat Jering Interchange, has reached 99.33%.

Perak Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Saarani Mohamad said the route, which is expected to open soon before Hari Raya Aidilfitri, will complete the entire length of the WCE in Perak.

"Besides functioning as an alternative highway to the North-South Expressway, the WCE will open up a western development corridor in the coastal areas of Perak.

"In order to make full use of the available potential, the state government has established the economic growth committee for WCE alignment chaired by me to plan development along the new highways in an effort to maximise the economic spillover to the people of Perak," he said during a question-and-answer session at the Perak State Legislative Assembly sitting here on Wednesday.

He was replying a question by Zafarulazhan Zan (Perikatan Nasional-Kampong Gajah), who wanted to know if the government had any development plans along the Teluk Intan-Lekir WCE.

Saarani said the Section 8 alignment from Hutan Melintang to Teluk Intan, Section 9 (Lekir-Changkat Cermin), and Section 10 (Changkat Cermin-Beruas) were opened in 2019.

He said there are development proposals involving five districts that are directly affected by the project, namely Bagan Datuk, Hilir Perak, Perak Tengah, Manjung, as well as Larut, Matang and Selama.

According to him, among the planned developments are various housing projects being implemented in Manjung, such as Rumah Perakku Lekir and Sitiawan, MyBN Home Lekir, the Setia Awan Perdana new town development and the MB Inc housing project in Lekir involving a total of 12,125 housing units.

Apart from that, he said a number of activities to upgrade and maintain tourist attractions are being actively carried out, covering areas around Trong, Changkat Jering and Kuala Sepetang, such as upgrading the Kampung Dew Firefly Jetty, as well as repairing the Long Jaafar Tomb, which has historical value and is an attraction for tourists visiting Taiping.

Saarani said in Hilir Perak, the development of Pekan Kecil Sungai Durian aims to improve the economy of the local population via its strategic position, and also includes the construction of business centres and various other public facilities that have high potential to make Pekan Kecil Sungai Durian a rest and treatment area for WCE users.

He said the Teluk Intan floating market project aims to improve tourism products in the district, especially in the Sungai Durian subdistrict, while the Perak lower district aquaculture zone project will include systematic and modern cage fish farming, the creation of floating restaurants, and floating accommodation.

The WCE is the latest alternative route that connects Selangor and Perak involving the construction of a highway from Banting, Shah Alam, Kuala Selangor, the Tanjung Karang area and then connecting the line in Hutan Melintang, Teluk Intan, Manjung, and the Beruas area, all the way to Taiping.